Forest and Carbon Monitoring System (SMByC)

The Forest and Carbon Monitoring System is a set of scientific monitoring tools that generate key information on the status of Colombia’s natural forests. Through this system, it is possible to monitor:

• The extent of natural forest cover and its changes over time.
• The causes and drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
• The carbon stocks stored in natural forests.
• Greenhouse gas emissions associated with deforestation and forest degradation.

This information is generated through technological innovation, including the development of algorithms for digital satellite image processing and their analysis by a specialized technical team of interpreters composed of both men and women.

Related links

Annual Deforestation Rate for 2025

AT-D Newsletter #46—First Quarter 2026

AT-D Newsletter #45—4th Quarter 2025

AT-D Newsletter #44—Third Quarter 2025

AT-D Newsletter #43—Second Quarter 2025

Annual Deforestation Rate for 2024

AT-D Newsletter #42—First Quarter 2025

AT-D Newsletter #41—4th Quarter 2024

AT-D Newsletter #40—Third Quarter 2024

Innovation in environmental education for forest and biodiversity conservation in Colombia

Colombia, a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, contributes a relatively small share of global greenhouse gas emissions but faces high vulnerability to extreme weather events. Although the country has strategic biogeographical conditions that enable it to mitigate climate change through greenhouse gas capture and biodiversity protection, communication on these issues remains limited. Much of the available information is highly technical, difficult to access and often lacks clear calls to action, reducing its potential to influence decision-making and promote the behavioral changes needed to curb deforestation, biodiversity loss and emissions.

In response, FAO Colombia and IDEAM have strengthened key instruments of the National Forest Monitoring System, including the National Forest Inventory (IFN) and the Forest and Carbon Monitoring System (SMByC). These initiatives combine scientific rigor with innovative communication and environmental education strategies aimed at making forest monitoring information more accessible to broader audiences.

As part of this effort, FAO Colombia, through the GCF–Visión Amazonía Project, developed an innovative communication and environmental education initiative known as the “FAO–IDEAM Monitoring League,” created using plasticine animation. The league features characters who act as reporters of their ecosystems, helping to explain the importance of the forest monitoring systems led by IDEAM while sharing stories about the realities and challenges facing Colombia’s forests.

Among these characters is CRAX, the reporter curassow representing the National Forest Inventory (IFN). In 2024, FAO Colombia also introduced YAC, the black caiman reporter representing the Forest and Carbon Monitoring System (SMByC), as part of the GCF–Visión Amazonía Project funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Through the FAO–IDEAM Monitoring League, these characters help communicate the importance of forest monitoring and conservation to diverse audiences.

Through these characters, scientific information is translated into accessible messages for rural communities, supporting capacity building, sustainable forest management and territorial governance in the colombian Amazon Biome.

It is worth noting that the reporters represent species classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List: the colombian curassow, categorized as Critically Endangered, and the black caiman, listed as Vulnerable. Their selection highlights that threats to forests affect not only vegetation cover but entire ecosystems and the species that depend on them.

This environmental education strategy highlights efforts to monitor and control deforestation while promoting messages on sustainability and forest protection tailored to local communities and the broader public. By making scientific information more accessible, these characters encourage active participation and foster positive changes in attitudes toward environmental stewardship, expanding the impact of these initiatives and contributing to greater awareness and climate action in Colombia.

In this context, several communication products featuring Yac have been developed to reach diverse audiences and regions of the country, including a plasticine animated miniseries, a podcast and educational materials.

Ensuring the Sustainability and Replicability of the Pedagogical Communication Strategy

This pedagogical strategy can be adopted by other public institutions, private organizations, and international cooperation partners through the methodological and communicative appropriation of the character YAC and the materials developed. As a flexible tool grounded in accessible storytelling and visual resources that translate technical information into clear, engaging messages, it can be easily integrated into environmental education programs, community-based processes, institutional campaigns, and capacity-building initiatives across different territories.

The “adoption” of YAC by governmental entities and development partners working on forest and biodiversity protection would help consolidate the character as an institutional communication asset serving multiple initiatives. This would ensure that the educational and methodological materials developed under the GCF–Visión Amazonía Project continue to be used and adapted to new contexts, expanding their reach and impact without the need to create new tools from scratch.

In this way, the strategy extends beyond the project’s lifecycle and guarantees the sustainability of pedagogical and communication activities in the medium and long term. By embedding the approach within institutional capacities and territorial dynamics, YAC can continue promoting messages on forest monitoring, conservation, and governance, ensuring that the knowledge generated remains active and continues contributing to forest protection after the project concludes.